"Sources with first-hand experience of Microsoft's next generation console have told us that although the next Xbox will be absolutely committed to online functionality, games will still be made available to purchase in physical form. Next Xbox games will be manufactured on 50GB-capacity Blu-ray discs, Microsoft having conceded defeat to Sony following its ill-fated backing of the HD-DVD format. It is believed that games purchased on disc will ship with activation codes, and will have no value beyond the initial user." Crap like this should be illegal. If I can't buy second-hand games at my local favourite game store, Microsoft can shove this new Xbox where the sun don't shine. Which it obviously doesn't do in Redmond if they can come up with this kind of user-hostile bullshit. You can pretty much guarantee that they have made a silent agreement with Sony to implement similar anti-user feature on the next Playstation.

TBH I doubt Nintendo, Sony or Sega care about ripping off what is essentially abandon-ware now.

Nintendo still make money from Virtual Console. Sony still make money from PS3 and PSP sales of PS1 titles (I have Resident Evil 2, 3 and Silent hill 1 on my PSP that I paid money for from Sony as digital downloads.) Sega is a trickier one, as downloading Dreamcast games is trivial. Save Sega, none of the games are "essentially abandonware." Sega license games to be remade and licence games to be made in to those plug-and-play TV games, so even they still care up to a point. Even stuff like the Neo Geo is still licensed (they even just released the new Neo Geo X console.) Wanting something to be abandoned because it suits your desires to acquire it and something actually being abandoned are two completely different positions.